A Wife for the Billionaire
Chapter 26: RICHARD

Chapter 26: RICHARD

In the entirety of my existence, no one has ever dared speak to me the way Sofia Blake did. And is still doing in fact.

She was unlike anyone I’ve ever come in contact with and there was something about her... something that was both intriguing and greatly vexing.

And of the two, the latter held more grip on my mind. With each word she said, every second she stood before me, my hate for her guts - built.

The most vexing thing about it was that I’m yet to humiliate her. All I’ve managed to do was vex her, mildly I might add.

I need to see that glint of pride in her eyes glaze with tears. For those proud lips to beg. For that imposing presence of hers she somehow manages to pull off even with such petite build, to be reduced to her knees. I want that chip she seemed to have on her shoulders to sag in defeat. I don’t just want her to beg, I need her to grovel. To realize that I, Richard Wellington, wasn’t a man to mess with.

I knew she was expecting my next words, that her future was hinged on the very words my lips would form next. But was she really that stupid? For someone so gutty, she was indeed a fool if she thinks after everything that has happened, I would give her the job.

And yet, telling her ’no’ felt like letting her off too easy. It may be a win, but it won’t feel so glorious, not when my pride had been bruised by her.

I would be less of myself if I let her walk through that door with an iota of victory in her heart. I must break her, I must conquer and defeat her leaving her with nothing but the cold slimy smear of defeat.

"There are others with a masters in office management and other clerk-related courses. With recommendations from the highest publication companies in the city. Your qualifications and recommendations may make you overqualified for the job, but at the same time make you unqualified. My true question is what is it about you that you think we need in Wellington?"

She made to answer immediately, then decided against it to think about my question first.

"Before I answer your question, can I say something first?" She asked.

"You never needed my permission before, so why the fuck do you need it now?

"I... I’m... I" she stuttered, clearly uneasy with my question.

Now, I’m getting somewhere, at least the pride in her tone is gone.

"My, my, my. The outspoken Sofia Blake, suddenly at loss with words. I’ll be damned" I teased.

"I’m not at loss with words, I just don’t know how to say this, I... I am um... oh fuck it, I’m sorry. There I said it, isn’t that what you want to hear?"

My grin stretched a few inches more, she was ready. Ready to be done for by my hands.

"Sorry for what exactly?," I asked, "Being a bitch? Barging into my office? Talking trash? Disrespecting me? Or for telling me to die in the elevator? Which are you really apologizing for?"

I watched her struggle with herself. On one hand, she was really pissed and on the other, she didn’t want to offer a retort.

Clenching her teeth, she said,

"I apologize for everything, especially for the things I said in the elevator. I was just mad at my stepmom and her daughters and I took it out on the wrong person"

"All that time in the boardroom and that was what you could come up with? How basic" I chuckled.

I could tell that I had gone far. Her hands folded into fists, curling and uncurling as she fought on whether to let that statement slide or...

"You know what? I don’t think I’m sorry. To be honest, I don’t think I said anything wrong. If there should be anyone apologizing, it should be you. Here I am trying to be reasonable, only for you to find my dilemma funny and think it all made up" she said, as mad as hell.

But I was just starting. She hasn’t seen anything yet.

"There she is. I was beginning to wonder where you disappeared to."

"You are sick. So you actually think this is all some kind of comedy. That my life is a joke to laugh about?"

"Well, I don’t know, but is it though?"

"God! I’m stupid. To even think that someone like you deserves my apology. You know what? I knew you would never in your twisted mind give me the job, but I had planned to come in here and apologize. To make sure things were cool between us, but clearly even that had been a mistake"

I was enjoying this beyond words. Seeing her like this, all cherry and vexed was exactly what I needed. If she could continue, I just might forgive her for the blue balls she caused with her interruption.

And had I not already gotten the perfect candidate for the job, I would have hired her, just so I could haunt and taunt her always.

I once said that I love handling girls like her. I love breaking them. Taking that pride of theirs and reducing it to nothing.

Sofia Blake was not an exception, in fact, dealing with her in just one day doesn’t feel like enough. Someone like her deserves to be dealt with on a daily basis until she learns of her place. Until she finally realizes that in life, there are some people who you just don’t mess with.

"You’ve got guts, I will give you that. Coming in here and thinking that an apology will be enough to wipe or make me forget those shit you spouted in the elevator. I’ll have you know that no one has ever spoken to me in that manner before, not even my parents. So, you see why I just can’t forget, don’t you?"

"Actually I don’t, maybe what you need is more people in your life who will speak to you in that manner. Perhaps then, you will realize that there’s nothing special about you... nothing at all."

And she was doing it again. Slowly getting under my skin. Turning the tables. Getting me pissed when that’s exactly what I want for her.

But I didn’t get to this point by not knowing how to deal with people like her. She may be my biggest challenge yet, but I’ll overcome. I will squash that pride of hers.

"There’s nothing special about me, you say and yet I’m here and you are there. I even recall you saying you had once considered me ’a no special being’ as a mentor and I wonder what that makes you, simply stupid or a terrible judge of character?"

"Neither" she answered immediately, "considering you a mentor had nothing to do with you as a person and more of what you could do. Besides that was in the past, and I’ll have you know that I’m an excellent judge of character. Too good perhaps and unlike you, that’s my specialty. I can simply look at someone, analyze their attire and know exactly the type of person he/she is. I think that’s your answer to that question you had asked earlier on"

By God! She is proud.

"You know for someone who can’t stand my pride, you should probably take a look in the mirror" I mused, leaning towards her.

"Oh, I’m nothing like you and I assure you I will never be, even if circumstances had been different."

"Care to elaborate?"

"For starters, I will never be caught doing that act you were indulging in minutes ago_"

"By that, what do you mean exactly, that you will do better in seclusiveness?" I cut in.

"Eww, you are so gross" she replied almost immediately and I found myself laughing.

"Do go on," I said after laughing.

"Secondly, I will treat people better especially those I work with_"

"And now you sound like my father, but continue"

"Take for instance, that man who tried to approach you in the hallway, had it been me, I would have handled that situation differently. Like schedule a time to see him or something rather than dismissing him like that as if he hadn’t been waiting all morning. Then Vera, would it really have killed you if you tried to pace her stride? And lastly, I would surely come to work on time" she finished.

That person she was or described could

never be me. Perhaps it would have been if my life wasn’t running on a countdown.

Flinging her words aside like they meant nothing, I said,

"Well, thank gracious I’m not you and you’re not me. Though I doubt you would want to be me if you knew exactly what it entails. Anyway, this specialty you say you have, can you prove it?"

Still exuding that confidence, I can’t stand, she asked,

"Who do you want me to read?"